From Wicked Thoughts, via SCSU Scholars, comes a story about a private school where senior girls were kissing the restroom mirror after putting on lipstick, leaving prints that had to be cleaned every night. Finally, the principal called the girls to the restroom.
To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she […]
Archive for May, 2008
New York City hopes to turn 50 failing schools into privately managed charters, using donations to a newly created nonprofit foundation. But will the new schools have enough freedom and flexibility? For example, charter principals usually have the power to hire, assign, supervise and fire teachers. The union wants to negotiate teacher […]
At a conference on teacher preparation, Vanderbilt Professor David Steiner presented an analysis of 200 courses taught at 30 top-rated schools of education. National Council on Teacher Quality says his paper is a must-read.
Professors, instead of preparing their students for the world of performance-based assessment and content-rich curricula, “teach a profound suspicion for that world.” […]
California spends 9 percent less per student than the national average, says “High Expectations, Modest Means”, a report by the Public Policy Institute of California. And the spending gap is even larger, explains Daniel Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee.
. . . professionals with college degrees — including teachers — command a premium in salary […]
Singapore students are the best in the world in international math tests, so some schools are trying out the island nation’s curriculum. Singapore Math was a huge success in a Maryland experiment.
The Singapore Math curriculum relies heavily on helping students master basic math facts before moving on to more theoretical concepts.
. . . […]
White male students are less likely to be binge drinkers at more diverse campuses. Blacks, Asians, women and older students — less prone to heavy drinking — apparently model moderation to their booze-happy classmates.
Significantly more black, Hispanic and Native American children are reading and doing math at grade level in North Carolina. Some think the racial gap in grade-level achievement will close in a few more years.
With an eye toward the future, school districts such as Wake and Durham have invested countless hours and millions of […]
If Head Start can’t boost the achievement of low-income students, the solution is obvious: Slow Start will level the playground.
Instead of trying to prepare poor children for school in hopes of enhancing achievement, ‘Slow Start’ will enroll children from middle-class and wealthy families and attempt to “confuse and de-motivate them” so that they won’t excel […]
It may be possible to delay puberty until kids are older and wiser, writes Future Pundit. No more teen pregnancy! (Via Amritas.)
It’s too creepy for me. And, yet, I know puberty is starting earlier than it did in the past due to better nutrition. Responsibility starts much later due to the […]
I’ve been trying to sell more freelance commentaries and articles, partly to make money and partly to help persuade book publishers that I’m a hot item and therefore my book is marketable. Fortune and fame. I want it all. I’m hearing from a lot of editors who claim they have no freelance […]
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